Celebrating this year's Utou with a toast to last year's!

Coming back full circle, back to the same brewery as the very first sake posted in this blog, we find ourselves back at Nishida Shuzo, makers of the famous "Denshu."

What I would like to present to you today, however, (not Denshu) is one of the lesser known labels produced by Nishida Shuzo: Utou!

This years Utou was just just released a couple of weeks ago, and to celebrate it's release, I would like to do a spot on last year's Utou, which has aged beautifully over the last year.

Utou / 善知鳥

Daiginjo / 大吟醸

Alcohol: 16~17% / Polish: 40%

SMV: +3

Nishida Shuzo / Aomori Prefecture

Tasting notes:

On the nose: Very clean, slightly sweet, light, and fruity.

On the palate: Light to medium bodied. Dry with an underlying fruity sweetnes that rounds the mouthfeel. Quick clean finish that leaves you reaching for another sip.

Other notes:

• Utou is a much lesser known label from Nishida Shuzo; meaning that it may be a little bit harder to find stores that carry it.
• Utou is a sake for the more serious sake aficionado, as it is a far more complex sake than your average table sake. you will also find yourself digging a little bit further into your pockets as well.
• This post is on last year's Utou, but look forward to (hopefully) a posting on this year's Utou in future posts.
• Look for other great sake from Nishida Shuzo under the Denshu and Kikuizumi labels.
• I don't think you fine folks over in the states will be able to find the Utou label in stores, but if you have the chance, and the interest, ask your local Sake shop, you never know.

Playing a little bit of catch up here, but I would also like to up the pace of my posting a little bit. Please feel free to post any suggestions or requests for reviews of sakes you have seen, or have caught your attention. I will be attaching an email address to this account pretty soon, so I will also start accepting questions and comments by email!

Thank you to all who have been reading, and I hope that this blog can eventually become a one stop sake notebook for all!

Cheers,

Meishu no Yutaka staff

Carlin

A blast from the past!

I'm setting my Delorean time machine to six months ago, an age in which the people of earth celebrated Holidays such as Christmas and new years.

On a more serious note: every year, in December, Mansaku no Hana releases a very stylish Sake set including a 180ml bottle of Daiginjo sake and one cute little blue cup. The whole set sells for about ¥1,000 and makes a really good stocking stuffer. At the time, I bought a bottle with the intentions of drinking it as soon as possible. One thing led to another, and we arrived at about a night or two ago when, after 6 months of sitting unopened in my refrigerator, I finally got around to opening it. Now it is not generally recommended to age your own sake, (although I think it is a blast, and highly recommend experimenting with it) as not all sake ages well and you run the risk of turning a perfectly good bottle of sake into something you may or may not want to drink.

I had a six month aged bottle of Mansaku no Hana, so I drank it, and the drinking was good.

Mansaku no Hana / まんさくの花

Daiginjo / 大吟醸

Alcohol: 15~16% / Polish: 50%

SMV: No data

Hi no Maru Jouzo / Akita Prefecture

Tasting notes:

On the nose: Very very light, little bit of a honey smell coming from the half year aging in my fridge. Very little nose for a Daiginjo, most likely diminished by the aging.

On the palate: Little bit on the sweet side, but very well rounded out by the sturdy acid structure. Really round mouth feel with a slight hint of vanilla. Finish was crisp and pleasant.

Other notes:

• The SMV data on this was thrown out several months ago, but my guess would be somewhere around a +3~4.
• I unfortunately didn't get a chance to taste a fresh bottle of this sake, as it would be a lot of fun to compare the two.
• Mansaku no Hana has a full line up of a lot of good sake, so look forward to more posts!

Cheers,

Meishu no Yutaka staff

Carlin

Yamahoushi Daiginjo Nama Genshu

This time we are going with a little bit of light and dry with a bang.

Yamahoushi / 山法師

Daiginjo Nama Genshu / 大吟醸生原酒

Alcohol: 18~19% / Polish: 50%

SMV: +4

Brewery: Rokkasen / Yamagata Prefecture

Tasting notes:

On the nose:  Very clean and fresh. Sweet, slightly fruity notes, with hints of rice and yeast.

On the Palate:  Dry with a strong bite off the bat, followed by underlying sweet and fruity characters that give it a nice rounded flavor.  Light to medium bodied.

Other notes:

• This is a genshu so be careful of the high alcohol content.
• A little light bodied for your average genshu, but still enough body and spice to keep you satisfied.
• Coming from Yamagata Prefecture, it has a lot of character. Very fun to drink.
• Yamahoushi has a full line up of sake, from Junmai and Honjozo, to Junmai Daiginjo.  Under a different label, but same brewery, there is also an Umeshu (plum wine) available. Look forward to more Yamahoushi in future posts!

Cheers,

Meishu no Yutaka staff

Carlin